Today's CSO figures also show that property prices in Dublin grew by 1.9pc in August and were a huge 10.6pc higher than a year ago. This is likely to lead to concerns of a property 'bubble' in the capital.

Dublin house prices grew by 2.1pc in the month and were 10.5pc higher compared to a year earlier. Dublin apartment prices were 10.1pc higher when compared with the same month of 2012.

The price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland rose by 0.1pc in August but were down 2.6pc from August 2012.

It is the fifth month in a row that prices have risen in the capital, and indicates, among other things, the strong demand for certain types of houses - particularly family homes - in Dublin.

It is understood that demand in south Dublin for these types of houses are particularly high - but the CSO figures do not break down these particular statistics.

Despite the recent surge, prices in Dublin are 51pc lower than at their highest level in early 2007.

The CSO figures also exclude cash transactions.

However, dash buyers of houses and apartments now account for more than half of all purchasers and are crowding out traditional family buyers.

People who are able to buy a property without a mortgage now account for 57pc of all residential sales, new research by economist John McCartney of estate agency Savills has found.

He said cash buyers were helping to drive prices up and were squeezing families who need mortgage finance out of the market.

Mr McCartney, a former CSO statistician, looked at data from the Irish Banking Federation, the Property Price Register and Savills' own residential branch network

"Some 57pc of all residential purchases in the first half of this year were made by cash-only buyers, up from fewer than 5pc in 2010," he said.

"When one considers that many of the remaining mortgaged purchasers are buying at relatively low loan-to-value ratios, cash is very clearly a dominant factor in the market."